Winning the Long War is a trenchant examination of the past seven years of the Global War on Terror, the future battlegrounds that will confront the United States in the struggle against radical Islam in the years ahead, and how America can reclaim the initiative in what has become the defining struggle of the twenty-first century. Middle East expert Ilan Berman offers new thinking on counterterrorism strategy and provides the new administration with ways to close the gaps in current American counterterrorism strategy.While there are many books about fighting terrorism, none offer Berman's approach of integrating diplomatic, legal, economic, military, and theoretical strategies into a comprehensive national security action plan. Using cutting edge analysis of current terrorism trends, Winning the Long War identifies three central failings that triggered the West's retreat and radical Islam's simultaneous advance: the failure to properly define the enemy, the inability to dominate the battlefields, and the inability to calibrate counterterrorism strategies. Demonstrating the need for more creative thinking about the nature of the conflicts in which the West now finds itself, this book lays out the steps that must be taken to win the long war.
Ilan Berman is Vice President for Policy at the American Foreign Policy Council. He has written extensively on the Middle East and is author of Tehran Rising: Iran's Challenge to the United States, coeditor (with J. Michael Waller) of Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes, and editor of Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Regime.Berman is an adjunct professor at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., and editor of The Journal of International Security Affairs. As an expert on regional security and foreign policy in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Table of Contents
Foreword Introduction Chapter 1. Fighting Smarter Chapter 2. Wanted: An Ideological Offensive Chapter 3. Messaging to the (Muslim) Masses Chapter 4. Economic Area Denial Chapter 5. Weaponizing International Law Chapter 6. Strategic Democratization Conclusion Index
What People are Saying About This
Robert C. McFarlane
Islam is undergoing what once in America was called a 'revival,’ the outcome of which will determine whether the overwhelming majority of moderate Muslims remain so. This global struggle for the heart and soul of Islam bodes fair to change the course of history—and thus far we in the West are losing. In this absorbing and rigorous examination of where we stand in this battle of ideas, Ilan Berman documents an alarming litany of failures on our side. The power of this remarkable book lies, however, in Berman’s prescriptions which, if adopted, are a basis for optimism that it’s not too late. Read it.
Brad Sherman
Berman offers a complete and coherent strategy for the so-called Long War, a struggle against radical Islam that will last decades. Most importantly, he has put forth a vision for countering our adversaries by demonstrating to their target audience that the jihadist ideology is an illegitimate interpretation of Islam and offers a bankrupt future. Very few writing in this area have tied together all the elements of a successful counter-terrorism strategy—political, diplomatic, law enforcement and especially economic. Berman has.
Thomas J. Ridge
The struggle against radical Islam is not limited to al-Qaeda or confined to Afghanistan and Iraq. The enemy is global. The challenge is multi-generational. The outcome remains uncertain. Ilan Berman argues persuasively that our strategic approach must be revisited and the rules of engagement changed. He offers a provocative, insightful, and scholarly blueprint for defeating the enemy in the intellectual, economic, diplomatic, and political theaters of this confrontation.
Jon Kyl
Berman is right when he writes that military force alone will not be enough to defeat this enemy; we must also employ economic and ideological tools. Sadly, when we have used these tools, we have usually failed to do so effectively. Winning the Long War shows policymakers across the political spectrum what to do to win this war.
